Feminist Theory & Activism Assignment

Dr. Lisa Boucher – Class: Discovering Feminist Thought – Department of Gender & Women’s Studies – Trent University

This assignment directs students to the Rise Up! archive as a resource for learning about the relationship between feminist thought and activism. It was a part of a required second year course in Gender & Women’s Studies called Discovering Feminist Thought. In this course, students learn about the evolution of feminist theory and explore links to feminist organizing and social change. Throughout the semester, we consider how feminist thinkers have explained social inequalities, imagined alternatives and strategized for greater social justice. Key learning outcomes in this course include the ability to understand connections between feminist theory and activism, and to apply course content to historical and current events.

Rise Up! Action Assessment

Dr. Simon Granovsky-Larsen
University of Regina, International Studies 303, “Social movements and alternatives to global capital”

This assignment was given at the end of a course section focused on social movement strategies and tactics, which were explored in large part using the book Beautiful Rising: Creative Resistance from the Global South. Beautiful Rising is intended as a handbook for successful grassroots organizing, and it doubles as a fantastic introduction to the inner workings of social movements. The full text of the book, along with its companion Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution, is available online in interactive format. Students approached the assignment from a place of familiarity with social movements, then, but without much background on second wave feminism or Canadian women’s movements. They were encouraged to spend a few hours exploring and reading in the Rise Up! archives, and that experience produced a number of outcomes: the students learned about women’s movements through their own, self-guided learning; they were introduced to the process of archival research (which opened up some interesting conversations later on, both about methods and about the importance of first-hand perspective in primary texts); and they were able to apply their other learning about social movements into some critical assessment.

Women Rise Up: Toronto/Canada Socialist and Radical Women’s Magazines Archive

Dr. Anup Grewal, Class: Women, Power, Protest – Department of Historical and Cultural Studies – University of Toronto

These two assignments using the riseupfeministarchive.ca were part of a second year course in Women and Gender Studies called Women, Power, Protest. The course took a broad approach, examining different individual and collective actions and/or reflections on those actions that spoke to the theme of ‘women, power, protest.’ I was interested in having students think about the relationship among those terms in a complex manner, as well as recognizing ‘protest’ to be varied in form, content and medium. The goal was to have students develop a critical lens as well as a celebratory understanding of all forms of ‘women’s protest’.

The assignment on the publications section of the Rise UP archive offered students a concrete body of activist work, and a concrete form (print media) to study. The students enjoyed browsing through the archive and were interested in the historical perspective the magazines provided. They were often surprised that ’women back then’ were discussing the issues they were. The group work presentations went very well, and students shared their sense of discovery of the different types of content and form expressed in the magazines.

Researching Feminism and Collective Action

Professor Meg Luxton – Class: Feminism, Political Citizenship and Collective Action – The Glendon School of Public and International Affairs – York University

This assignment using the riseupfeministarchive.ca was part of a Master’s level graduate course called Feminism, Political Citizenship and Collective Action. The course was cross-listed between The Glendon School of Public and International Affairs and the Graduate Program of Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies, York University. The course explores the relationship between feminist political organizing and mobilizing and public policy in different contexts. One of the central goals of feminism is to win full political citizenship for all women. This course explores the ways in which feminists have organized collectively to advance their demands, the different understandings they have about what political citizenship is and could be, and the various strategies and tactics they have mobilised.

The course examines contemporary (English language) feminist theories relating to concepts such as political citizenship, democracy, human rights, liberation, social justice, and political activism and it studies how the multifaceted feminist movement engages in actions of resistance, protest, and demands over the definition/redefinition of meanings generally attributed to these concepts and over the social relations they reflect and shape.

Feminist Media Assignment

Professor Meg Luxton – Class: Women Organising – The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies – York University

This assignment using the riseupfeministarchive.ca was part of a third year undergraduate course in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies.

This course looks at different ways that women have organised collectively, as women, to improve their lives. At different times and in different places, women have organised in and against revolutionary, nationalist, anti-colonialist and transnational movements; trade unions, autonomous women’s movements, queer movements and mainstream political institutions; states, schools, workplaces, communities, and religious institutions; public and private spaces. The course asks how their issues and strategies reflect diverse concerns based on gender, racialisation, class, ability and sexuality, as well as different political orientations.

The course also looks at organising for economic justice and human rights; engagements with the state and government around representation and public policy; organisational strategies, such as separate structures, democratization and cyber/digital feminism; women’s involvement in international and transnational movements; and anti-feminist organising. It asks what is meant by activism and advocacy, alliances and solidarity. It analyses and assesses different political strategies and invites students to explore effective ways of organising in the current period.